U.S. Ebola Response: Troops, Training, Supplies

Calling the Ebola epidemic in West Africa a "potential threat to global security," President Barack Obama said the U.S. will send 3,000 military personnel to help combat the outbreak.

"If the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected," Obama said, "with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us."

"If these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic," he said, "that has profound effects on all of us."

Obama said the U.S. plan, developed over the past 2 months, has four goals:

Controlling the outbreak

Addressing the "ripple effect" on economics and communities

Coordinating a broader global response

Building stronger health systems both in affected countries and their neighbors

'Daunting' but Possible

The task of controlling the epidemic is "daunting" but possible, Obama said, because medical scientists know how to stop Ebola. "But we have to act fast. We can't dawdle on this one."

At the request of Liberia, the U.S. will establish a military command center there to support civilian efforts across the hard-hit region, including Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia itself.

Under Major General Darryl Williams from U.S. Africa Command, the American forces will build new Ebola treatment centers in the affected countries and will recruit and organize medical personnel to staff them, Obama said.

The forces will also set up a site to train 500 healthcare providers a week in how to care safely for Ebola patients.

In addition, he said "we're going to create an air bridge" to get personnel and materials into the region -- something the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as a major roadblock.

Many airlines have suspended flights to the region and some neighboring countries are refusing to allow remaining flights to use their airports for transit.

Obama added that the Department of Health and Human Services will send 65 members of its Commissioned Corps, who will go to Liberia to care for healthcare workers who become ill from Ebola.

And the U.S. Agency for International Development is helping to provide some 400,000 households with protection kits, appropriate information, and training on how to protect themselves and their loved ones.

"The world is looking to us -- the United States -- - and it's a responsibility that we embrace," Obama said.

Other Countries Need to Step Up

But the president also said other countries also need to play a greater role: "The world has the responsibility to act, to step up, and to do more."

The new U.S. commitment was welcomed by agencies and organizations involved in the epidemic.

"We welcome the ambition of the new U.S. Ebola response plan, which appears to match the scope of the disaster unfolding in West Africa," said Brice de le Vingne, director of operations for the medical aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

"The response to Ebola continues to fall dangerously behind and too many lives are being lost," de le Vingne told MedPage Today by email. "This latest pledge, alongside those from a handful of other countries, needs to be put into action immediately."

"This massive ramp-up of support from the U.S. is precisely the kind of transformational change we need to get a grip on the outbreak and begin to turn it around," Chan said in a statement.

The agency has been vocal about the need for more boots on the ground to battle the epidemic.

But de le Vingne said even more is needed: "We need more countries to stand up, we need greater concrete action on the ground, and we need it now," he said.

"If implemented swiftly, the deployment of new Ebola management centers, qualified staff, and health personnel training could begin reversing the trend of the fight we have collectively been losing against Ebola," de le Vingne added.

The new commitment is "uncharted territory" because the U.S. has never deployed troops to help control an epidemic, commented Lawrence Gostin, JD, of Georgetown University's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law in Washington.

But Gostin told MedPage Today the U.S. response now far outstrips the rest of the world and the new commitment will "go a long way" to help control the epidemic.

He agreed with de le Vingne that much more is needed, adding that the U.S. response is only "about a third of what's needed."

'Whole-of-Government Response'

The U.S. has undertaken a "whole-of-government response" to the epidemic, starting after the first cases were reported in March, the White House said in a statement. So far, the federal government has committed more than $175 million to the crisis and the administration is working with Congress to get more resources, the White House said.

The White House did not give a dollar figure for the new initiative, but USA Today, quoting unnamed officials, said the cost would add up to $763 million over the next 6 months, including the $175 million already committed.

Meanwhile, an emergency committee convened under the International Health Regulations will review the status of the outbreak this week, including assessing the impact of measures taken to date, the WHO said.

Since then, the outbreak has continued to grow; the latest figures from the WHO show 4,963 confirmed, probable, and suspected cases, and 2,453 deaths as of Sept. 13 for Guinea and Sierra Leone, and as of Sept. 9 for Liberia.

The agency noted that cases are defined as confirmed only if there is a lab test showing Ebola virus. Probable and suspected cases have symptoms and more or less clinical and epidemiological evidence connecting them to the outbreak.

Two other African countries have also reported cases. In Nigeria, the WHO said, there have been 21 cases and eight deaths, all linked to a man who flew from Liberia to Lagos and died there of the disease.

Some 470 contacts of cases have been followed for at least 21 days -- the greatest incubation period of Ebola -- without showing signs of disease. Of 402 contacts still being monitored, 93% were seen on Sept. 13 but no cases were reported.

In Senegal, a man who crossed the border from Guinea on foot tested positive for Ebola and has since recovered. There have been no further suspected cases although all of the man's 74 contacts are still under surveillance.

Accessibility Statement

At MedPage Today, we are committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities can access all of the content offered by MedPage Today through our website and other properties. If you are having trouble accessing www.medpagetoday.com, MedPageToday's mobile apps, please email legal@ziffdavis.com for assistance. Please put "ADA Inquiry" in the subject line of your email.